


Common Ground

by NarryMusings



Series: The Button Chronicles [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Harry has a cat and a boyfriend, M/M, Narry - Freeform, narry storan - Freeform, neither of which get along
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-10-07
Packaged: 2018-02-20 05:37:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2416847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry watches fondly as both his boyfriend, Niall, and his cat, Button, struggle to find common ground in Harry's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Common Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Here's that second idea I had. This one is in Harry's perspective. It's not a sequel or a second chapter, it's a whole other story. 
> 
> Sorry if that's confusing.
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> Tumblr: narrymusings

Harry's been dating Niall for two months when he finally decides to let the beautiful, blond-haired Irish boy come to his flat. He'd always gone over to Niall's before, telling Niall that his kitten, Button, was afraid of strangers. Niall had quirked an eyebrow and mentioned something about cats being genuinely afraid of strangers all the time, but Harry had insisted this was different. 

And it was. Because Harry had found her alone and frightened in a dark, wet alley way, hiding with her small face tucked into the corner of a brown cardboard box. She was shivering and cowering and there was no food or water or anything to keep her warm. She'd been abandoned. And so Harry had picked her up, tucked her into his chest and covered her with one half of his sweater. He'd brought her straight home and into his bedroom and the second he placed her on the floor she'd ran underneath his bed to hide.

She was still under the bed when he got home from the pet store half an hour later with food and a couple bowls and toys and a little bed and a litter box with a bag of litter. He filled one bowl up with water and the other up with the dry food the girl at store told him to get for kittens and had placed them both on the floor beside his bedside table. And he'd waited. And waited. And then he'd climbed onto the bed, tucked his legs underneath him and not a minute later she came out to eat. When she noticed him watching her a few minutes later, however, she'd ran back under the bed so he decided to leave the room so she could eat in peace.

It took a week and a half for her to finally come out from under the bed when he was still in the room, but she still avoided him like the plague if he ever got too close. 

It took another two weeks for him to coax her out of the bedroom at all, let alone for him to be able to put her bowls in the kitchen. 

It was another week until she allowed him to get close enough for her to sniff his hand. Three days for her to bop her head against his fingers. Two more days for her to let him pet her. 

It took a grand total of four weeks for her to warm up to him, for her to cuddle with him, for her to play with him. And it's when he's lying on the couch and she's curled into a ball on his chest that he finally feels accepted and is finally able to name her. He named her Button because she's cute and his mum used to always say he was “cute as a button.” 

Harry's had her for almost a year now and he's only introduced her to three other people. His mum, Gemma and his best friend Louis. She was terrified of all three of them for months and has only just begun to warm up to them, but just barely. Other than them, he hasn't invited anyone over to his flat since he brought her home, for fear of scaring her. 

And Niall knows this, which is why he asks Harry six times if he's sure he wants Niall to meet Button. Niall is hesitant and a little bit afraid because he isn't sure if he's a cat person, but Harry says that Niall is a Harry person so everything will be fine. Calling Niall a Harry person makes the Irish boy blush a dark red colour which, in turn, makes Harry swoon. 

Harry and Niall have just enough time to kick off their shoes when Button comes trotting into the front hall to greet Harry. She always greets Harry at the door when he's been away all day and Harry takes it as a sign that she's missed him. Harry grins when she meows at him and moves forward to bump her head against his leg. But then she sees Niall and freezes for just a second before she begins to cower away. Harry coos at her, calling out her name and telling her it’s okay, but then she turns around and runs back down the short hallway and disappears into Harry's room. 

Niall and Harry spend the whole evening in the living room and Button stays far, far away, hidden underneath Harry's bed. She doesn't even come out to eat when Harry brings her bowls, at least not while Harry lies on the floor trying to coax her into coming out for him. 

Only after Niall leaves for night and Harry's lying in bed does Button make an appearance, curling up on the pillow next to Harry's.

X

Harry doesn't bring Niall around again for another two weeks. And when he does bring Niall around, Button is quick to hide under Harry's bed once more. 

X

It goes like this for the next three weeks. Niall comes over and Button hides under Harry's bed. Harry tries to coax her out and she ignores him until Niall leaves. 

(They don't even get to have sex in Harry's bed because Harry refuses to invade her privacy, which means they end up having sex everywhere else. Which, come to think of it, still isn't much of a complaint.)

X

It's somewhere around the 15th time that Niall comes over that something changes. Button still runs away and hides under the bed. Harry still has to bring her dinner into the bedroom so she'll eat it. And she still refuses to come out for him. 

But it's when they're lounging on the couch, Harry's legs intertwined with Niall's on the coffee table and Niall's head on Harry's shoulder, that Button pokes her head into the living room. Harry sees her first, but doesn't react. "Remain completely still," he whispers into Niall's hair. 

Button walks slowly into the room, sniffing around like she's searching for Niall's scent, inspecting the scene. She walks the long way around the room to Harry's side of the couch before jumping up onto the arm. Harry reaches his hand out for her and she sniffs it first before bumping her head softly against his fingers. He scratches her between the ears and then she steps down onto the cushion beside him and curls into a ball to fall asleep.

Harry takes it as a step forward, even though she completely ignores Niall.

X

Niall begins to spend more and more time at Harry's flat until it's at the point where it seems as though he spends more time there than at his own flat. Button starts to come out of the bedroom more, for longer periods of time – and then she doesn't run away from Niall at all, just kind of accepts that he's there and carries on. 

X

Harry returns home from work one day to find Niall sitting on the couch in the living room, his feet propped up onto the coffee table and Button perched on the arm of the couch. She jumps off the arm when she sees him and trots towards him to greet him; he meets her half way and picks her up into his arms for a snuggle. And when he meets Niall's gaze, there's a smug sort of glint in his eyes and Harry knows that Niall's proud of himself.

X

A couple days later Harry comes home late from work to find that Niall had let himself in because his shoes are in the front hall. Niall, however, is nowhere to be found and neither is Button, he realizes. And that's when Harry hears Niall's voice, smooth and gentle, coming from his bedroom so he follows the voice until he's standing in the doorway. 

"I promise I'm not gonna hurt you, babes," Niall says. He's sitting cross-legged on Harry's bed, his back to the door, facing Button, who's perched on the pillow next to the one Harry uses at the head of the bed. It's the pillow she sleeps on, the pillow Harry calls hers.

"I know you're afraid of me and maybe you don't like me, but I would never hurt you. And I will never hurt Harry."

Harry finds himself smiling fondly, the butterflies coming to life in his stomach at Niall's admission.

"We can be friends, right? We can figure out how to coexist, at least for Harry's sake, right? I really care about him, Button, and I know you love the shit out of him. So can we please just be friends?"

Niall leans forward, then, placing his hand palm down on the bed between himself and the feline across from him. Button inches forward, sniffing tentatively at Niall's fingers before she closes her eyes and bumps her forehead against Niall's knuckles.

"There ya go," Niall whispers. "Not so bad, is it?"

Harry makes his presence known, then, clearing his throat as he walks into the room. Both Niall and Button crane their necks to look at him, Niall smiling wide and proud.

X

The first time Niall spends the night Button isn't sure what to do with herself. Niall's lying on her side of the bed next to Harry, his head on her pillow. She paces around on the floor, meowing at Niall like she wants him to leave, for 10 minutes before she finally jumps onto the foot of the bed. They're both watching her as she watches them, almost glaring at the blond boy on her pillow.

Niall murmurs something about leaving, but Harry just giggles and grabs his hand to keep him from getting up.

Button walks up the length of the middle of the bed, forcing Harry and Niall to put space between them so she has room to move. And then she lies down in the small space between Harry's and Niall's chests, tucking her head underneath the corner of her pillow. 

Harry complains and goes to move her out of the way – he wants to be closer to Niall – but Niall stops him. He says they should consider themselves lucky that she hasn't full-on forced Niall out of the bed. So Harry settles for intertwining their fingers and feet around Button, who's already fast asleep between them.

X

Harry wakes up alone the following weekend. Niall's spent every night at Harry's this week, so this isn't their first morning together but it is their first Saturday morning together. He'd been looking forward to waking up with Niall and being lazy in bed all morning with Niall and maybe having breakfast in bed with Niall – but now he's alone. Like, really alone because Button is gone too. 

The only thing that assures him that Niall isn't actually gone is the fact that his clothes are still on the floor from the night before. 

He gets up, pulls on a pair of boxers and slips his favourite moccasin slippers on his feet before he makes his way out of the room and down the hall. 

In the kitchen is where he finds Niall – and Button. He pauses in the open area, where the living room meets the kitchen meets the front of hall, staring fondly at the sight before him. Niall's sitting at the small island counter in nothing but a pair of black boxers, his feet resting on one of the bars midway down the stool, his arms resting on the counter on either side of a bowl; Button is sitting on the opposite side of the bowl, watching him. And there's an open box of Honey Nut Cheerios on the counter next to them.

"I already gave you some milk, Button. What more do you want?" Niall asks her before shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. 

Button reaches out for the spoon with her paw as Niall pulls it away from his mouth. When Niall sinks the spoon back into the bowl, essentially ignoring her advances, Button meows at him.

"What?" Niall chuckles. He shakes his head as he brings the spoon back up, this time with only milk, as he holds it steady in front of her. "Careful," he murmurs.

She dips her head down slightly, licking at the milk on the spoon.

"What are you guys doing?" Harry wonders, walking over to them both. He leans down to press a soft, chaste kiss to Niall's lips and then scratches Button's head between her ears, eliciting a satisfied purr from her chest. (And if Niall was a cat, which Harry sometimes thinks he could be – especially lately, he's sure the cute Irish boy would've purred too.)

"We're bonding," Niall replies. 

"Over milk..."

"Yeah, I got hungry and I guess she was hungry too 'cause she followed me – which she never does, right. So I fed her and got meself a bowl of cereal and all of a sudden she was sitting there watching me eat – so I poured some milk into a bowl for her. Now she's just being greedy."

Harry laughs, rolling his eyes as Button paws at Niall's spoon again, which causes Niall to mutter something about her being spoiled as he lets her lick the milk off of his spoon. He turns around to put the kettle on, then, and to make himself some toast.

So much for spending the whole morning in bed... But at least Button is finally warming up to Niall.

X

Harry finds his boyfriend and his cat bonding several more times over the course of the following week.

Monday: Button joins them in the living room while they're watching Netflix and curls up on the cushion beside Niall's thigh.

Tuesday: Harry comes home from work to find Niall making dinner in the kitchen and Button watching him from where she's sat on the counter, pawing playfully at Niall's hand whenever it gets close to her.

Wednesday: Button lays sprawled across the back of the couch, her chin resting on Niall's shoulder as they watch Criminal Minds.

Thursday: Button falls asleep with her front legs and head resting on Niall's head on their pillow.

Friday: Niall goes out for drinks with his work friends after work and since Harry has to work late anyway and is tired, he decides to just go straight home – which means that Harry and Button have the flat to themselves for the first time in weeks. Harry thinks it's far too quiet and boring – and he thinks Button agrees because she keeps looking at the door like she's waiting for Niall to walk through it.

Niall gets home at around 11:30, stumbles drunkenly through the front door giggling and calling out for "Haz" and his "favourite Button". Harry laughs at the blond boy with the Irish lilt as he struggles to get his shoes off, making it far too difficult for himself until he sits down on the floor to pull them off with his hands. Button trots towards him, rubbing herself against his legs as he lies back on the floor in the front hall, complaining that his head is dizzy. Harry goes to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and a slice of bread for Niall only to turn around and find his boyfriend lying back on the ground with Button lying on her stomach on his chest, pawing at the blond boy's chin. Niall whispers something about kitty cuddles as he strokes his hands over her back. 

X

Harry asks Niall to move in with him the next morning while Niall's face is inside the toilet bowl, which is probably the worst timing ever. But the words come out like word vomit, which is just as well. 

Niall sputters and gasps and hums when Harry threads his fingers through Niall's hair and massages his scalp. "Ask me again when I'm not lying on top of the toilet, yeah?"

So Harry asks him again, 10 minutes later, after Niall's crawled back into bed and curled into a ball with his head next to Button's on the pillow. And this time Niall says yes because, let’s face it, they're practically already living together.

Harry leaves half an hour later to get Niall some hangover food and drinks and when he returns shortly after, Niall's lying flat across the couch and Button is sitting sideways on the arm of the couch; Niall's face is tilted slightly upwards, looking upside down at Button while she looks back down at him. Neither of them must hear him come in because neither of them acknowledge him.

"You're okay with this, right? With me moving in?" Niall asks softly. "I mean we're good, right, babes?"

Button bumps her head against Niall and tucks her chin in towards chest; Harry swears he hears her purring all the way from the front door. Niall giggles in response and tilts his head slightly to kiss her between the ears. She crawls off the arm of the couch and lies down on his chest with her head tucked into the crook of his neck.

Niall hums, then, but Harry swears it sounds more like a purr. 

Harry watches them for a moment longer, not wanting to disturb the way Button paws gently at Niall's chin as Niall plays with Button's tiny ears – and he thinks that maybe, now, his boyfriend and his cat have a little more in common than just Harry.


End file.
